News round-up: Debt-laden care home firm is reprieved until July

Four Seasons, the owner and manager of more than 400 nursing and care homes, has reached a third standstill agreement with its creditors, including Royal Bank of Scotland, until July 22, allowing the company to stay in business, a source close to the situation told the Guardian.

Four Seasons, with about £1.5bn of debt, has been negotiating a debt restructuring with its creditors since August. The complexity of its debt – which includes 35 different lenders and 11 tiers of debt – has contributed to the delays.

In a decision that clarifies the law after years of confusion, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that all workers are entitled to up to four weeks of holiday pay for each year they are on sick leave.

At least 50 sex offenders who pose an ‘ongoing risk’ to children were cleared to work in schools, an inquiry has found. Some were approved by ministers or senior officials to continue working with children despite evidence they had committed sex offences. Read more on this story in The Daily Mail

The future is older. With demographics telling us that the numbers of people who will need care and support into old age are rising inexorably, the pressures on resources are increasing. Through implementing personal budgets, government is hoping that people will both opt for fewer services and obtain better services more cheaply, thus reducing the pressure on already overstretched budgets.

Fiona Weir, head of newly relaunched Gingerbread, is fighting the corner of single parents against outdated stereotypes and sanctions to push them back into work, while arguing for more and better childcare, she tells Mary O’Hara.

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